Ebola virus: the tiny airport in Sierra Leone that has direct link to Britain

Passengers on only direct flight to Britain from Ebola-infected area are
ordered to wash hands in chlorine and take fever tests

A man has his temperature taken by a health official at Lungi airportPhoto: Adam Bailes

By Alhaji Bangura, Freetown, Colin Freeman and Hannah Flint

8:20PM BST 31 Jul 2014

As a last line of defence in stopping the spread of the deadly Ebola virus to Britain, Lungi International Airport in Sierra Leone would not be an obvious first choice. Sitting on the far side of an estuary from the capital, Freetown, the tiny airport terminal is accessed via a collection of ageing ferries and taxi-boats - none of which, as the Foreign office travel guide points out, is “without risk”.

Such was the reputation of the airport’s officials for taking bribes and backhanders that its management was handed two years ago to a private contractor in a bid to stamp out corrupt practices.

On Thursday, though, as the only airport that operates flights from Africa’s Ebola-affected region directly to London, Britain is relying on its teams of security officials to screen passengers for the disease as they board the four-times weekly flight to Heathrow.

At the airport on Thursday, visitors to the airport were required to wash their hands in chlorinated water before they embarked on the estuary crossing, and then again when they entered the airport terminal itself, which is only open to people with airline tickets.

A masked official with an infra-red temperature gun - which requires no bodily contact - then assessed passengers for any sign of fevers, with anyone with a temperature above 101.6F (38.7C) banned from travelling.

However, given that the disease has incubation period of up to three weeks before symptoms begin, there was nothing to stop potential carriers boarding the British Airways flight 136 to Heathrow, which starts its journey in neighbouring Liberia, another affected nation.

Health experts, though, said despite the growing spread of the disease across the region - Sierra Leone declared a state of emergency - there was not yet any need to consider a ban on direct flights.

“If the disease does continue to spread through west Africa, there will probably be sporadic cases arriving at Heathrow via direct flights,” said Dr Derek Gatherer, a specialist in the evolution of viruses at Lancaster University. “But right now I don’t think there is much to worry about. The infected areas are mainly villages in remote areas, where people are not generally in the habit of international travel. The other main 'at risk’ group are medics who have been treated affected people, but they do generally take very stringent precautions against being infected.”

On Thursday night, the World Health Organisation said it was launching a new $100 million fund to improve the response to the outbreak across the region, which will bring in several hundred new staff to fight it. The US also issued a new travel warning to its citizens, urging them to avoid “non-essential” visits to Liberia, Guinea or Sierra Leone. The move represents a greater level of official caution than the Foreign Office, which has so far stuck to posting advice on its website warning of the dangers posed by the disease.

Staff at Lungi Airport appeared to be taking the risks seriously, with no passenger allowed to enter the airport without undergoing the checks. Posters around the terminal warned people of the telltale signs of the illness, which include vomiting, bleeding from the eyes and acute diarrhoea.

For passengers who could not read or write, a set of graphic illustrations left nothing to the imagination. Others symbols showed a picture of a monkey - a warning to avoid eating the bushmeat that is thought to have been the source of original outbreak.

Airline passengers wash their hands in chlorinated water as they enter Lungi airport (Adam Bailes)

Despite the spread of the disease - which has seen official vehicles touring the streets of Freetown megaphoning public health warnings - passengers for the six-hour BA flight seemed largely unconcerned. While a few wore protective white gloves to reduce the risk of infection by handshake, none claimed to be leaving Sierra Leone because of fears about Ebola’s spread.

Momodu Koroma, 57, a businessman, told The Telegraph: “There was ample screening at the airport, with every single passenger checked, which made me feel very relieved. I took care to stay safe in Freetown but in certain parts of the country there’s a lot of fear. I feel glad in a sense to be leaving.”

However, on arriving at Heathrow, passengers said they did not undergo additional checks or receive additional advice on what to do if they fell ill. Border officials have already complained they have not been adequately prepared in what to in case they encounter infected people.

Meanwhile, the government of Sierra Leone on Thursday began ramping up its efforts to counter the disease, ordering the authorities to conduct house-to-house searches for anyone suspected of having the disease but failing to come forward for treatment.

Some families are believed to have kept loved ones at home, given the high death rates at clinics where Ebola patients are quarantined.

The country also saw the burial on Thursday of Umar Khan, its sole virologist, who was branded a “national hero” after saving the lives of more than 100 Ebola patients before succumbing himself to the disease.

In neighbouring Liberia, officials begun shutting down schools in infected areas and ordering most public servants to stay away from work, while the US Peace Corps began withdrawing hundreds of volunteers posted to the affected countries, Guinea, Liberia or Sierra Leone. Two Peace Corps workers are already medical observation after coming into contact with someone who later died of Ebola.

More than 700 people have now died from the disease, according to the World Health Organisation, which announced dozens of new fatalities on Wednesday.